If you play live anywhere, you need to sell merchandise. In addition to the gig, supplement with CD's, T-shirts and whatever else you can sell and make a profit.

In a former band, I was the only one that had money to spend on "other things" so when we decided to start selling merchandise, I was the only one that money to invest. The other guys had a standing offer to buy in at any point they wanted. No one ever did.

As it turned out, I ran the t-shirts, bumper stickers and other merch that we sold. This was back before the days of CD's and home studios becoming popular. there was no money to do studio time and sell cassettes, and we were a cover band.

However, I did buy some t-shirts and sold them at gigs. There was quite a few nights when I walked out of a club having made good money playing 4 sets and having made even more than that from selling shirts and bumper stickers.

You can find my music at:
www.herbhartley.com
Add nothing that adds nothing to the music.
You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both.

The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.